


Glitter and Tequila

by Imestelomel



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alcohol use (of age), Blame the Party Ponies, College Years, F/M, Humor, Ignores the Trials of Apollo, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Post-The Blood of Olympus, Romance, contemplating life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 20:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8728456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imestelomel/pseuds/Imestelomel
Summary: Following a run-in with the Party Ponies, the lovely Praetor Reyna shows up at Leo Valdez's door. After a few minutes of her invading his apartment, he's starting to rethink the wisdom of keeping a supply of tequila on hand at all times.





	

When Leo opened his front door, he didn't expect to find forever-unattainable-love-of-his-life Reyna soaking wet, bruised, and covered in glitter, but he supposed most of his life as a demigod was rather unexpected.

"Valdez." The usually composed praetor angrily pushed past him into his apartment, dripping water into the kitchen and leaving a glittery streak on Leo's arm that would put Aphrodite's diamonds to shame.

"Um…hi?" Leo looked up at the sky outside before shutting the door. "It's not raining…" He turned around to see Reyna rummaging in the freezer, and raised an eyebrow when she emerged with a shot glass from the cabinet, a bag of frozen strawberries and a bottle of Patrón. "It's also ten in the morning. _Santa María,_ Reyna _,_ what got your toga in a twist?"

She plopped herself down at the kitchen table, poured herself a shot and tossed it back before looking up at him and sighing. "This would be the work of the Illinois Chapter of the Party Ponies. How Chiron puts up with them for even an hour, I will never know." She picked up the bag of strawberries and gingerly pressed it to her forehead, where a deep purple bruise had blossomed over her eye. "They don't take too kindly to someone refusing to do a root beer keg stand, it seems."

Leo snorted before he could stop himself, and quickly tried to hide his grin. "So, what, they decided to make you the star of a Kesha water balloon fight music video?" It was good to see her, really good. It had been at least a year since he'd caught a glimpse of her in New Rome while visiting Frank and Hazel, and she looked as beautiful as she always did, even if she did look more like a wet cat than a carefully composed praetor.

There was a twitch at the corner of Reyna's mouth, but Leo couldn't tell if it was anger or amusement. "No." She poured another shot. "They decided to chase me from Illinois to New Jersey, shooting me with glitter bombs and those ridiculous punching arrows. The storms that popped up in between were...merely a cherry on top." She rolled her eyes as she tossed back the next shot.

Reyna's braid, usually immaculate, was starting to make a puddle on the table. "Okay," Leo said slowly, grabbing a clean dish towel out of a drawer and tossing it to her before leaning against the counter. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing _here._ Isn't the annual war games tournament in two weeks? I'd think you'd be in full-blown praetor-lady mode, getting everything set up, not with everyone's favorite, sexy mechanic." He grinned and winked, praying to the Greek and Roman gods alike that his eagerness to have the beautiful demigod in his apartment wasn't as obvious as he felt.

Reyna, however, chose that moment to focus on squeezing the water out of her braid. "It seems I was getting a little too 'praetor-lady' for Frank's liking, so he and the centurions banded together to kick me out of New Rome for a few days under the pretense of a "much-needed vacation". I was aiming for Camp Half-Blood, but I ran out of supplies in Utah, and my attempt to find help with the Party Ponies was...unwise." She scowled and poured another shot. At this rate, Leo was going to be scraping her off the floor before noon. "So, I decided to stop here before heading on to Camp Half-Blood. Gods know I could never show up looking like _this_." She gestured wildly to her glittery, drippy torso.

Leo snorted again. "So you decided to stop here to let me see you like this? Have you _met_ me? I'm the king of never letting anyone live _anything_ down."

Reyna's mouth twitched again. It had to be amusement this time, he thought. "As much as I hate to admit it, facing you is better than every Greek demigod. They all take me too seriously. You don't take anyone seriously, so the chance of you losing respect for me is slim-to-none." Another shot. _Dios mio,_ she was really putting a dent in his tequila stock. "Besides," she said evenly, looking up, "I know I could always threaten you to keep your mouth shut." She was obviously trying to glare at him, but it was obvious the tequila was starting to loosen her up. There was none of the usual hardness behind her eyes. Instead, there was a glint of something Leo had never seen, something that twisted him up inside and made his fingers heat up. He looked down and swallowed hard, before reaching in front of her to grab the shot glass and the bottle. He slid them to the middle of the table, sat across from her and downed a shot before he could think better of it. The burn was a pleasant distraction, though he wished he had a lime on hand.

Reyna smirked. Oh yeah, the tequila was _definitely_ hitting her now. "What happened to "it's ten in the morning", Valdez?"

He shrugged playfully. "Eh, I could probably find at least three bars in a half-mile radius from here that are serving liquor by now, so it's not _that_ bad. At least I'm drinking in my own home." He poured another shot for himself, keeping his hand on the bottle as he threw it back to try and keep Reyna from grabbing it. He really didn't want a totally smashed praetor-lady that could take him out with a ballpoint pen stumbling around his apartment.

Reyna began to unravel her still dripping, messy braid. "I was actually surprised to find you at home." She ran her hands through her loose, wet hair, and Leo's fingers started feeling hot again. _Mierda_. "Hazel had mentioned you've been taking classes."

He half-shrugged, trying not to stare at her. She was usually pretty with her standard braid, but with her hair down, she was a straight-up knockout, especially since she was slowly getting more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. "I have, but only on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually open up the shop."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "The shop? But I thought since Cal-," she stopped short, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

Leo held up a hand to stop her and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, it's been almost two years. I can stand to talk about her." He poured another shot, and wondered if that made him seem like he was lying. "I started opening the shop up again last winter. I figured Calypso leaving wasn't a good enough reason to completely quit on my superb and unmatched mechanical career. Besides, I think my mother would want me carry on with the shop. It was our dream." He winced as he quickly drank the poured shot. Damn it, maybe the tequila was hitting him a little hard, too. He usually didn't open up about that. "So, I just took her neon name down, remade the kitchen into a waiting area, and, _voila!_ , Leo's shop!"

Reyna said nothing, just reached forward to pour herself another shot. They sat in silence for a minute, as she started to rub her hair dry with the dish towel. She ran a hand through it to toss it back, and Leo almost smirked at the glitter she was leaving behind in her hair. Almost. He knew she was relaxed, probably solely thanks to the Patrón (thank you, tequila gods!), but that didn't mean she was going to let him laugh at her, even with friendly intentions. Oh, wait, was he staring? Schist. He started fiddling with the cork stopper, rolling it back and forth under his hand. Leo only dared to look up when he heard a sigh.

Reyna had slid forward, chin cupped in her glittery hand, and was looking at Leo pensively. He cocked an eyebrow and smirked, earning him a smirk back. _Santa María, esta mujer va a matarme._ He focused again on the cork stopper before his fingers could light up.

"I'm thinking of resigning as praetor."

The stopper shot out from under his fingers as his head snapped up, hitting the cabinet next to him and ricocheting back into his eye. " _Mierda_!," he swore loudly, rubbing his eye and bending over. He looked up to see Reyna barely repressing her laughter, shoulders shaking from the effort. "Ugh, sorry, I just...ow…," he groaned, blinking and testing his vision. There were yellow and blue spots flickering everywhere, but he blinked and tried to focus. "What were you saying?" He tried to reach for the bottle, but his depth perception was way off and he missed by at least six inches.

Reyna laughed quietly and poured the shot for him, grabbing his hand and curling his fingers around the glass. He took it as quickly as he could and hid his hand under the table as it started to smoke from the contact. He hoped she hadn't noticed.

"I said, I'm thinking of resigning as praetor," she said, drawing circles on the table with the condensation from the bag of strawberries. "It makes sense, after all. Most praetors don't stay on past twenty-one or so, and I'm already going on twenty-three. I've been in the legion for ten years. For all intents and purposes, I've fulfilled my duty to New Rome." She sighed quietly, and rolled her shoulders back before glancing up at him. "The only problem is, I have _no idea_ what I want to do outside of the legion." She had lost the relaxed look she'd had earlier, and now seemed to be balking under the weight of her troubles.

Leo drummed his fingers against the table. "I'm gonna be completely honest here, I'm having a little trouble imagining you as anything other than the total Roman badass you've been since I've met you." She snorted at that. "But, if you aren't feelin' the praetor kool-aid anymore, then you should just take the plunge and resign. Even if you aren't sure what you would want to do, something would pop up. I'm sure you'd have plenty of job offers in New Rome. Not to mention college."

Reyna grimaced. "That's the thing. I think...I'd rather not stay in New Rome. I want something new, something different _y sin todos los malditos recuerdos de la legión."_ She waved a hand at Leo as she poured another shot. " _Ya sabes_."

Yes, he did know. He followed up her shot with one of his own. "Well, you could try out the mortal world like me." He gave her the best, most dashing lady-killing grin he could.

Her eyes lit up and she leaned forward. "I was actually thinking about doing something like that. I think I'd want to take some courses, perhaps in the medical field or psychology." She frowned and studied the table. "Though, I don't think I'd enjoy doing it alone. I mean, not that I'd want to take the classes with someone, I'd just want someone close by."

Leo propped up his chin and chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's been a little tough since Calypso left." Reyna's eyebrow quirked up. "I don't mean romantically," he hastily added, "I meant in general. I don't get many monster attacks since I'm not Big Three, but, it'd be nice to have help when I do. And making friends in the mortal world is harder than it looks, even for someone as charming and good-looking as me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed. _Dios mio_ , he wished she would laugh all the time. He studied her eyes, glazed from the tequila, and warm, hopefully because of him, though that was probably the tequila, too. He wanted her eyes to sparkle with laughter every day, and he wanted to be the one who made them light up and sparkle.

"Leo?"

"Hm?," he hummed distractedly in response.

"Your hair is on fire."

His eyes widened comically as he reached up to put his head out, sparks fluttering down in front of his eyes, and Reyna laughed as he blushed and grinned. "Sorry," he said. "I tend to light up a little easier when I've been drinking." _And around beautiful women such as yourself,_ he added in his head. No, he couldn't say that. She'd just brush him off, and that would just ruin his whole week.

She smiled and started drawing in the condensation again. "Do you really like it, though? Here, in Jersey City?"

He thought about it for a second, his chest warm from the tequila. "Yeah, I do. At first, I thought it was a mistake, since I'd always wanted to move back home. You know, Texas?" She nodded. "But I've really come to like it. It's close to Camp Half-Blood, but not too close that they're calling me in for repairs every weekend, and I'm close to Piper and Percy and Annabeth. It's far enough away that I've made it my own place, too." He looked up at her, and found her absorbed in their conversation, her dark eyes pensive and deep. Oh, screw it. "Can't say it wouldn't be improved by the addition of a certain beautiful ex-praetor," he said with what he hoped was a smoldering, sexy smile. Sweet Gods of Olympus, she was gonna kill him for that.

Reyna's eyes widened ever so slightly, but she quickly smirked in response. "Oh, is Jason moving in?"

Leo sat in shock for a second before bursting out laughing. " _Dios mio, mi reina_ , that has to be the greatest joke I've ever heard you say!"

She blushed, laughing herself before turning her attention back to the table. Something shifted in her mood, however, and he noticed the smile disappear as she fidgeted in the chair. She glanced at the bottle, but seemed to think better of it, and turned her gaze to Leo. He was about to ask what was wrong when she sat up straight with a determined look on her face.

"I have a confession to make," she blurted out, and before he could say anything she continued. "I...didn't just come here because I needed to get cleaned up or anything like that," she said, waving her hand in the air. "I had planned to come visit you the whole time."

 _Mierda_ … Leo opened his mouth to speak but Reyna, uncharacteristically, kept talking. By the Gods, she was a chatty drunk.

"I just, I had wanted to talk to you and spend some time with you. Not…just because I wanted advice on what I should do after the legion, because I actually already decided to resign, but because I do enjoy spending time with you." She fiddled with the sleeve of her purple t-shirt, not meeting his eyes. His heart was racing, and he could barely wrap his head around the fact that Reyna the Scary Praetor actually _enjoyed_ spending time with him, Leo the Repair Boy (Man?). He didn't have time to think about it much before she started talking again.

"And the truth is, the few times we've seen each other in the last few years have really...stayed with me. I honestly haven't been able to get you out of my mind, and after so long of trying to convince myself it was just because I wanted to be friends, after seeing you here and talking to you face-to-face, I'm starting to think it might not just be friendship that I've been wanting."

Leo's fingertips burst into flames. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Reyna, this beautiful woman in front of him, the one who had always acted so above everything, especially him, was admitting she might _like him?_ His heart was pounding in his ears, and he could barely hear her over the rushing sound of blood. He was itching to just get up and take her in his arms and…

"You see, this whole time I've convinced myself that there was no way you were ready for a relationship again," she said, oblivious to the fire that had erupted briefly in his hands or the stricken look on his face. She was talking faster now, gesturing wildly, as if she couldn't keep her words in. "And anytime I asked Jason or Piper or Hazel or anyone how you were doing after Calypso, they would all just say you were doing better, which could have meant anything! So I thought you wouldn't be ready, and let's be honest, there was no way I could even _compare_ to Calypso. She was immortal and beautiful and perfect and I'm just-"

" _Ay, dios mio, mi reina_ , just-" he mumbled as he leapt out of his chair. In two strides he was standing right beside her, pulled her up to stand flush against him, and cut her off by pressing his lips firmly against hers.

It was like fire, but unlike any fire Leo had ever known or could create. The warmth of her lips traveled through him like ink in water, and his arms of their own accord wrapped around her. One arm tightened low around her waist and the other traveled up, until his hand was ensnared in her damp, dark curls. He pressed her closer to him, and close as he could get her with clothes on, and a shudder ran through him as her arms went up around his neck, her hands tangling in his hair. He felt her tongue cautiously press against his lips, and he eagerly responded in kind, deepening the kiss and moaning into her mouth. His entire body felt electric, and while it could have been the tequila, he had a feeling it was all due to the sensation of having _this woman_ in his arms after all the years of wanting her there.

At last, they broke apart, gasping for air, but stayed close, arms still wrapped around each other. Leo brought his hand up, thumb tracing her jawline, and pressed his forehead gently against hers, keeping her bruise in mind.

Reyna gazed up at him, eyes happy and face flushed. " _¿En serio?_ "

" _Por supuesto, mi reina_ ," he said, grinning as he pressed his lips to hers once more. _Mierda_ , he wanted to hold her like this everyday.

Eventually, they broke apart again, and Reyna laughed as she looked up at him.

"What?," he asked as she laughed harder and covered her mouth with her hand.

"The glitter!," she managed to get out before succumbing to another laughing fit.

He chuckled, and reached over to pick up the toaster on the counter. His reflection, though distorted, revealed a smear of glitter surrounding his mouth, chin, and parts of his neck. "Agh, this is gonna take a while to get off. Though, it'll probably take you a thousand times longer."

Reyna looked down at herself in dismay. "Party Ponies," she gritted out between clenched teeth.

Leo grinned at her. "First, let me get you some nectar to help these bruises along," he said, running his fingers along her hairline. "And then, you're welcome to take as long of a shower as you need to get all of this shiny crap off."

Reyna gave him a grateful smile, before stepping closer and resting her hands on his chest. "And...after?"

He let his arms wrap around her waist. "After that, _mi reina_ , we've got all the time your pretty little _corazón_ desires." Leo grinned as Reyna laughed and pulled him in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to take a break to stretch, walk around, get some water and roll out those tense shoulders! Selfcare is important for everyone!


End file.
